Fish unloading system

ABSTRACT

A fish-unloading system for removing fish from the hold of a fishing boat. The fish hold is substantially filled with water and sufficient salt added to cause the fish to float near the surface of the water. A fish-impelling device having an enclosure arranged in a loop with a discharge aperture formed in its upper portion is lowered into the upper portion of the hold. A powerdriven chain looped about the interior of the enclosure drives a plurality of blades so as to continuously propell fish upwardly from the hold.

United States Patent Mario .1. Puretic 259 6th Ave. North, Monte CristoIsle,

[72] Inventor Tierra Verde, Fla. 33715 21 AppLNo. 51,573 [22] Filed July1,1970 [45] Patented Dec.7, 1971 [54] FISH UNLOADING SYSTEM 2 Claims, 3Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl 214/152, 214/15E,214/15B [51] lnt.Cl ..B63b35/l4 [50]FieldofSearch 214/152, 14,15,15B

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 3,104,756 9/1963 Walker198/210 3,261,316 7/1966 Puretic 214/15 X 3,450,279 6/1969 Yukawa 214/15BX Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Axsislan! Examiner-Frank E.Werner Attorney-Fulwider. Patton, Rieber, Lee & Utecht ABSTRACT: Afish-unloading system for removing fish from the hold of a fishing boat.The fish hold is substantially filled with water and sufficient saltadded to cause the ,fish to float near the surface of the water. Afish-impelling device having an enclosure arranged in a loop with adischarge aperture formed in its upper portion is lowered into the upperportion ofthe hold. A power-driven chain looped about the interior ofthe enclosure drives a plurality of blades so as to continuously propel]fish upwardly from the hold.

PATENTEDDEC new 3,625,383

INVENTOR.

ME/O J. pUREf/C Array/vans rrsn UNLOADING SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relatesgenerally to the art of fishing and more particularly to a novel systemfor unloading fish from the hold of a fishing boat.

2. Description of the Prior Art Although fishing is one of the 'oldestarts, comparatively little has been done over the years to change theapparatus and methods that have been utilized in unloading fish from thehold of a fishing boat. Generally, fish are unloaded by means of a largebucket that is suspended from a hoist. Prior to the unloading operationthe brine is removed from the hold. Thereafter, a crew of laborersdescend into the hold and handload the bucket with fish. The loadedbucket is then raised through the hatch to the deck or to a dock. Thisunloading operation involves several disadvantages. Thus, it requires acomparatively large number of workmen. The conditions within the holdare extremely uncomfortable. The unloading operation requires manyhours, with a resultant expensive tieup time of the boat. Moreover, theworkmen bruise and thereby damage the fish by contact with their feet.Where small fish are unloaded it is possible to pump the fish from thehold. This system, however, is only usable with smaller fish and thefish are generally rendered unfit for human consumption.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a major object of the present inventionto completely eliminate the above set-forth disadvantages inherent toconventional unloading of fish from a fishing boat.

It is another object of the present invention to provide afish-unloading system wherein the fish are caused to float near theupper portion of the fish hold and are thereafter removed from such holdrapidly and without damage to the fish.

Yet a further advantage of the present invention is to provide afish-unloading system of the aforedescribed nature utilizing afish-impelling device that is economical of manufacture, compact, lightin weight, and foolproof of operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of apreferred form of fish-unloading system embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. I; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken in enlarged scale along line 3-3 ofFIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, thereis shown a fishing boat B provided with a preferred form offish-unloading system embodying the present invention. This systemutilizes a fish impeller device D shown extending through the hatch ofthe fishing boat. The hatch 10 leads to the fish hold 12 of the boat B.Fish F are shown being withdrawn upwardly from the water 11 in hold 12through the hatch 10 onto the deck 14 of the boat B.

A preferred form of fish-impelling device D of the present inventionincludes an open-sided enclosure generally designated 40 that defines anelongated generally tear dropshaped loop. The enclosure 40 may be formedof a suitable material such as metal, wood, synthetic plastic or acombination of these materials. Enclosure 40 includes a pair of likeside frame elements 42 which are horizontally aligned. These side frameelements are provided with a cover 46. The upper portion of the cover 46is open so as to define a fish-discharge aperture 48. Cover 46 is bentat the lower edge of aperture 48 to provide a retainer lip 50. The lowerpotion of the enclosure defines a fish intake SI.

A pair of like roller chains 52 are looped about the interior of theenclosure 40. As indicated particularly in FIG. 3, these chains aresupported within generally U-shaped guides 56 formed on the side frames42. The upper portion of the side frames 42 rotatably support a pair ofsprockets 60 by means of a horizontal shaft 64, the sprockets beingkeyed to the shaft. The teeth of the sprockets 60 are engaged with thelinks of the two chains 52. The sprockets 60 are preferably driven bymeans of a hydraulic motor 66 of conventional construction mounted onthe upper rear portion of enclosure 40. Alternatively, an electric motormay be employed. The drive shaft of the motor 66 is keyed to a pinion68. The pinion 68 is in engagement with the links of a short drive chain70. The links of drive chain 70 are also engaged with the teeth of agear 72 keyed to one end of the shaft 64.

A plurality of like, elongated blades, generally designated 76, areattached to the chains 52 at spaced portions therealong. Each blade 76includes an upper element 78 and a lower element 80. Each upper bladeelement 78 is provided with a stifiening angle 82 affixed to itsrespective upper blade element as by welding. The upper blade elements78 are secured to the lower blade elements by means of a plurality ofbolt and nut combinations 84 extending through the vertical web of angle82. The outer edges of each stiffening angle 82 are secured to agenerally L-shaped clip 86 by means of bolt and nut combinations 88. Thefree leg of each clip 86 is affixed to an inner inwardly facing link ofchains 52, as indicated particularly at 89 in FIG. 2. The upper portionof each upper blade element 78 extends inwardly and downwardly in agenerally V-shaped configuration. The lower element of each blade 76extends outwardly below the chains 52 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. Thelower edge of each lower blade element 80 rides just above the inwardlyfacing surface of cover 46. The blades may be formed with apertures 91for water drainage.

The side frames 42 are provided with a pair of like, aligned fish guidesof generally triangular configuration. As indicated in FIG. 2, the upperedges of the guides 90 extend upwardly and rearwardly relative to thelower run of the side frame elements 42.

The upper portion of the side frames 42 are provided with a pair ofaligned lower support ears 94 and a pair of upper support ears 96. Thesesupport ears are formed with bores 97 and 98, respectively, that receivethe four legs of a cable bridle 100.

In the operation of the fish-unloading system of the present invention,the level of water or brine ll in the hold 12 is raised if necessaryuntil it reaches the upper portion of such hold. Thereafter, ifnecessary, the salinity of the water or brine is adjusted until the fishfloat near the water level in the hold. The brine pumps may be operatedso as to accelerate salinity control. Next, the lower portion of thefish impelling device D is lowered through hatch 10 into the upperportion of the water 11 by means of the cable bridle l00,until the fishintake 51 is disposed within the upper portion of such water.

The motor 66 will then be operated so as to effect movement of thechains 52. As indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lower run of chains willmove upwardly and rearwardly so as to effect concurrent movement of theblades 76. Blades 76 will propel fish F upwardly from within the lowerportion of the enclosure 40 along the support surface 102 defined by thebottom wall of cover 46, the upwardly facing surfaces of blades 76defining impelling surfaces 103 that extend normal to such supportsurface. The fish F ultimately pass through the fish discharge aperture48. In this manner the fish will be rapidly and continuously removedfrom the hold 12. The fish discharging from the aperture 48 may bedirected into a conventional chute, conveyor or bucket for removal fromthe boat B. The brine pumps may be operated so as to aid continuous flowof the fish F into the intake 51 of the enclosure 40. Fish may also bedirected into the enclosure intake 51 manually by means of an elongatedrod or stick. It should be particularly noted that the removal of thefish from the hold 12 will not damage the fish in any way. The movementprovided by the impeller blades is smooth and gentle so that the fishwill not be bruised.

It should also be noted that the aforedescribed fish-impelling device Dincorporates means for automatically guiding the fish F towards thecenter of the blades 76 as the fish are being moved upwardly along thebottom wall of the enclosure 40. Thus, referring to FIG. 1, it will benoted that a fish Fl has its tail portion extending outwardly over theside of one of the side frames 42. As the tail portion of the fishengages the upper edge of the guide 90, it will be gradually forcedupwardly because the upper edge of the guide 90 rises at a greater anglethan the upper edge of the side frame 42. As the tail portion of thefish is thus raised, gravity will cause the fish to slide downwardlytowards the interior of the enclosure. In this manner, the fish willgradually be forced away from the side frame until all or the majorityof its tail portion is positioned within the confines of the enclosure.

Various modifications and changes may be made with respect to theforegoing detailed description without departing from the spirit of thepresent invention.

I claim:

1. A system of unloading fish from a hold of a fishing boat through ahatch of said boat, said system comprising:

substantially filling said hold with water;

adjusting the salinity of said water whereby said fish will float nearthe level thereof; providing an upwardly inclined support surface thatextends from below the level of said water through said hatch; and

continuously power-moving a plurality of impelling surfaces that extendnormal to said support surface upwardly over said support surface tothereby progressively urge fish upwardly out of said hold and throughsaid hatch.

2. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said water is circulated insaid hold to aid in directing said fish onto said support surface.

i t i i t

1. A system of unloading fish from a hold of a fishing boat through ahatch of said boat, said system comprising: substantially filling saidhold with water; adjusting the salinity of said water whereby said fishwill float near the level thereof; providing an upwardly inclinedsupport surface that extends from below the level of said water throughsaid hatch; and continuously power-moving a plurality of impellingsurfaces that extend normal to said support surface upwardly over saidsupport surface to thereby progressively urge fish upwardly out of saidhold and through said hatch.
 2. A system as set forth in claim 1 whereinsaid water is circulated in said hold to aid in directing said fish ontosaid support surface.